A's Release Former Chicago White Sox Lefty

The underlying stats were interesting in his time with Chicago

Sep 3, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Jared Shuster (51) throws a second inning pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The A's don't have a ton of left-handed options in their current bullpen mix, with Hogan Harris looking like the main option for the green and gold from the left side, and Brady Basso potentially serving as the second option in the big leagues.

Those are the only two current bullpen arms on the 40-man roster, though the club did re-sign Ben Bowden and Matt Krook to minor-league deals this winter for depth.

The Athletics could be in the market for some bullpen extra depth this winter, but we now know one pitcher that won't be part of that group. Earlier this month, the A's ended up releasing southpaw Jared Shuster, making him a free agent for the first time.

Shuster was claimed off waivers back in August after the Chicago White Sox had DFA'd him. The southpaw endured his worst season in the big leagues with the Sox, posting an 8.04 ERA across 15 2/3 innings, which is well above his career ERA of 5.27.

On the one hand, his ERA was the worst that it had been in three big-league seasons. On the other, his FIP was stupendous, sitting at 2.94. It's easy to see why the expected stats liked him so much in such a small sample size, too. He didn't allow a home run, which is key, and his BABIP was also extremely high at .429.

That would seem to show that the things he could control, like home runs, were being limited by his performance, while something that was out of his control (BABIP) was extremely high. Hence the huge discrepancy in FIP.

These are likely the reasons that Shuster stood out to the A's when he was placed on waivers late in the season. There was an expectation from Athletics on SI that he could be added to the A's roster when rosters expanded in September, but that did not end up happening, which seemed like a clear signal that he was a depth piece and not one for the future.

The A's tend to give guys a brief look in September for a handful of games, and if the performance is good, then they get a look the following year. If it's not, then they end up departing during the offseason.

This has been the case for Ernie Clement and Tristan Gray in recent years, and the amount of playing time they receive in the final weeks has been a clue for guys like Kevin Smith, JJ Bleday, Nick Allen and a slew of others.

Shuster could have been an lefty option for the A's in the bullpen with T.J. McFarland gone and Sean Newcomb headed to free agency this winter, though his performance in Triple-A wasn't the best.

In his time with Las Vegas, he made 10 appearances, going 0-2 with an 8.53 ERA (5.55 FIP) across 12 2/3 innings of work. He also walked as many hitters (7) as he struck out, which was bad on a couple of fronts. The first, and most obvious, is that strikeouts should always outnumber walks allowed. The second is that the rate for each was just 11.3%, which is an extremely low rate of strikeouts.

That said, he's never been a huge strikeout guy. Earlier in the year with Chicago, that sat at 14.6%, but his walk rate was way down at 6.1%, so it worked to a degree. He just doesn't have a ton of margin for error, which makes things difficult for him. The hope for him is that he can sign on with another club, presumably on a minor-league deal, this winter.